How often do you hit the snooze button a week?
Life below deck on sail training yacht or lead flotilla yacht in my experience, has been nothing like the popular TV Series of the same name. For starters we do not have a chef, duvets, the skipper cabin is considerably smaller and usually doubles up as the breakfast areas, and every crevice of space is taken up with spares and equipment or food! Having talked about the log-book, i.e. journalling, earlier this week [available here], it reminded me about the importance of structure to the day. There is no snooze button on a boat!
We agree the night before when to “call the hands”. It means the agreed time when everyone is up and preparing themselves for the day ahead. It is your opportunity to grab a shower, stow-away your sleeping bag, pump the bilges, complete engine checks, wake up the boat, and, prepare breakfast if you are on mother-watch to mention a few things. It is also recorded in the ships log. Then we all come to breakfast and cover the plan for the day. Things change overnight in the UK, especially the weather, so we discuss the sail plan. We need to know what the tide is doing, what time we need to leave to arrive on time at the next harbour. [Side note: it’s a safety critical to inform a contact ashore of your intentions, more on that in the future].
Basically, we need to be prepared for the day ahead, using all the resources available at our disposal.
Call the Hands is simply a morning routine. It is tried and tested on small and big boats across the industry because it works.
One morning on a trip, I woke up early. It was a chilly morning, and I heard voices so went above Deck to see what all the commotion was. I spotted the flashing blue lights and watched as the cordon tape got rolled out by the unformed police officer. Immediately, I ducked back below for a bed check as 2nd Mate. Most were fast asleep and accounted for, I lightly tapped on my skippers cabin door, not wanting to wake up the others. After no response, I opened the door. His sleeping bag was rolled out, so I knew he had been to bed. It is really not unusual for the skipper to be up before everyone else, and as a rule if berthed, if you need the heads [bathroom], you go ashore so that’s where I thought he was. I decided to text him on my way to morning ablutions to be certain. He is probably in the shower, I thought as I walked the pontoon.
Our overnight neighbour was on his way back and are pleasantries he said “you might as well head back to your boat, you can’t access the marina office, there is an ongoing incident.” Checking my phone, still no reply from the boss. I couldn’t help the panic rising within, nor could I stop my mind going to the worst place, so I started to call him. Straight to voicemail! I decided to wake up the 1st Mate and brief him until the skipper responded, chances are his phone signal is non-existent and he is stuck on the other side of the cordon tape. No-one in or out.
We discussed it on the pontoon and decided to “call the hands” as it was our last day we could start the day as we would need to use the heads aboard. Our 1st Mate approached the police to advise of our missing skipper and the lack of contact and hopefully ascertain what was happening. While the rest of us had breakfast and initiated the boat clean alongside. Boat cleaning takes hours! Getting a head start is never a bad idea! The longer he was away, leaving as planned was looking less and less likely given it was now within the hour of expected departure. ‘Where is he?’, ‘And, where is the boss?’ I kept thinking. Still no skipper. Now no mate. Still no-one in or out. It kept us [me] occupied.
The story doesn’t end well, sadly, my skipper, may he rest in peace, had an accident at some point and left us, permanently. The shock was real, a salty seadog of +40 years, gone in a moment. Hypothermia, and, a suspected in-ability to recover himself from the water lead to his drowning; the coroners final conclusions. He was the happiest of all skippers to date, I have sailed with, and he loved good food and the gym even less [his words].
I mention this as I recently was recommended the Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod and journalling and exercise are part of his morning routine. Having been going for 32 days as I pen this post, I have lost a few pounds and journal consistently too. Even on the days I don’t want to. It has provided structure to my morning and has actually freed up thinking capacity for the rest of the day, I no longer have to keep exercising on my to-do -list because it is part of my morning routine. The journalling is bringing insights I may never have discovered if I had not committed to write at least once a day, and the morning entry is non-negotiable, because it is where I set my intention for this day.
Today is also World Mental Health day, Talking is good for your mental health. And talking about mental health is important. But starting a conversation isn’t always easy. I didn’t talk all those years ago, but I did journal, there is a cathartic release in the transference of your thoughts to the page and I genuinely believed it helped. If you are going through anything there is always help available professionally and I urge you to seek it out and if you cannot just quite yet ; pick up a pen and some paper and have a conversation with yourself. It will make a difference. I know it will because it did for me.
What can you take forward for the next 30 days – to improve your life? Remember to dream big and execute small. For it is the smallest of actions, consistently repeated, that move us closer to our goals.
Waypoint Creation 